Responsible Gaming

We believe in providing a responsible and protected entertainment environment for adults. We want you to enjoy your experience here, and remind you to play wisely, and within your budget. If you want to have a break from playing you can use our self exclusion option by emailing us with the details of the account you have opened with us. We will then close your account for a period of 6 months, during which time it will not be possible for the account to be re-opened for any reason.

Occasionally individuals may be concerned about their gambling habits. If you think that you may have a gambling problem we recommend contacting any one of a number of self-help organizations for guidance. For confidential advice and support concerning a gambling problem, please contact:

All players at must be at least 18 years old, or of legal age to gamble in the jurisdiction in which you reside, whichever is greater. We do employ a series of checks to ensure that no person under legal age has access to our live gaming facilities. Providing inaccurate or dishonest information about a player's age will result in forfeiture of any winnings and may result in civil and/or criminal prosecution.

In order to protect minors from accessing the site we do recommend that responsible players install Internet Filtering Software on their computers. Employing a filtering software program will allow players to control the type of content that is displayed as well as block specific websites and set up passwords to prevent access by any underage players with access to your computer. As well, you recommend the following preventative measures:

If your home computer is shared, create separate profiles for all users of your computer.

Avoid leaving your computer unattended while logged in.

Disable the "Remember my password" option on your login screens.

Integrity

Behind all the fancy bells and whistles of our poker platform, lies a powerful and secure gaming platform. We understand the importance of information security and the techniques needed to secure information. We store all of the Personal Information we receive directly from you in a password-protected database residing within our secure network behind active state-of-the-art firewall software. Both the website and the Service support SSL Version 3 are protected with 128 bit encryption.

RNG/Shuffle

RNG solution ensures the even distribution of cards whereby no sequence or relationship can be discovered in any way. The RNG solution is unaware of what’s going on in the game itself, so when the game requests a random card, the RNG has no idea of whose turn it is nor how the game is being played. We believe this is the ultimate impartial tool, better than the physical shuffling of cards.

Security

During gameplay, all communications between the client program running on your computer and the our server are encrypted using the accepted industry standard 256-bit TwoFish encryption algorithm. What that means is that the unique cards dealt to each player are delivered exclusively to that particular player's computer thus maintaining privacy and integrity of play. Packet-sniffing by other players cannot be used to gain any advantage. Each player's cards are sent exclusively to that particular player's computer. None of the other computers know what your hidden cards are, thus preventing an opponent from hacking their client software to determine your cards.

Collusion

Collusion is a form of cheating in which two or more players signal their holdings or otherwise form a cheating partnership to the detriment of the other players at the same table.
In order to combat collusion, we employ numerous detection methods that are designed to alert security staff of any unusual play patterns. While it can be argued that passing information between players online is much simpler than at a live casino cardroom, it is much more difficult to avoid eventual detection as the cards for all players, as well as player seating tendencies and their relationship to others at the table, can be reviewed by security personnel after the hand is finished. The tables at are under constant monitoring and Security staff thoroughly review any unusual play patterns. We will also investigate all player reports about suspected collusion and we have adopted a strict no tolerance policy for players that are involved in collusion. In such an incident the account, and all the related accounts, are immediately closed and permanently banned from our site. If warranted, we have the right to confiscate any funds won while acting as a team. Confiscated funds will be distributed to victim players.

BOTS

We are committed to detecting and preventing software programs which are designed to enable artificial intelligence (non-human) to play on our site. Such programs are often designed to send information about cards or players to an external program. Players found to be using such programs will have their account closed immediately and they will be banned from playing at the site permanently.

Prohibited Software Policy

In the interests of integrity and fairness in game play, all actions taken during games played on the Merge Gaming Network must be made personally by the registered player at all times. These actions must be taken without advice, support or shared information from 3rd party software programs or services.

These prohibited programs and services fall into two categories:

those that are not permitted under any circumstances

those that are not permitted during gameplay

Merge Gaming reserve the right to monitor the services running on a player’s computer/device and in the event that a known prohibited program/service is found, block the player from accessing the Merge Gaming Network.

Not Permitted Under Any Circumstances

The following classes of programs are prohibited and players found to have them present on their device/computer risk having their account closed and account balance seized. This action will be taken regardless of whether or not the prohibited software is in use while the player is connected to the Merge Gaming Network

Automated poker-playing programs with online capabilities (bots):

Bots include any program or service that is able to make decisions or perform actions, directly impacting gameplay, on behalf of the player. Some examples of programs in this category include:

WinHoldem

Shanky Bot

OpenHoldem

ICM-Bot

Frogbot

Poker Android

any custom-built program, service or script that makes decisions and takes actions on the player's behalf

Data Mining: Shared hand history databases

Players are not permitted to use the hand histories for hands that they have not personally participated in, addition sharing hand histories via subscription services or simply the exchange of personal databases between players is prohibited.

Software designed to collect hand history information from games that the player did not participate in is prohibited. Examples include:

Poker Edge

Poker Crusher

SpadeEye

IdleMiner

HandHQ

community shared hand histories

exchanging hand histories with a friend

Data Mining: Automatic table selection or seating

Players are not permitted to use software that takes advantage of shared information on players or tournament results to identify weak opponents or to use information on players (shared or not) to rank or recommend available tables to the player. Specific examples include:

Lobby Edge

Poker Usher

Sixth Sense

Poker Sherlock

Poker Table Finder

Not Permitted During Play

The following classes of programs are allowed to be present on a player’s device/computer but may not be in use while participating in a game on the Merge Gaming Network.

Automated Play or Betting Assistors

Players must individually make all play/betting decisions without assistance.

Poker calculators and other programs that can extract information from a Live game and present the player with hand probabilities or odds for that game or which use this information to recommend play/betting actions to the player are not permitted.

Specific examples include:

Online Holdem Inspector

Poker Calculator Pro

SNG Endgame Tools (SNGEGT)

Short Stacking Strategy (SSS) Calculator

SAGE Calculator

Poker Hound

any custom-built program/service in this category

Programs/services that use shared data to provide additional information on opponents

Websites, services or programs that make use of shared databases of tournament histories, results or statistics are not permitted during play.

Specific examples include:

SharkScope

Top Shark

Smart Buddy

Poker Table Ratings

Any other type of program/service that confers an unfair advantage

Any program/service that, in the opinion of Merge Gaming, confers an advantage that could not be attained through regular, fair play may be deemed prohibited and the use of such may lead to account closure and seizure of funds.

Allowed Programs/Services

The following programs/services are allowed for their intended use.

Offline Poker Tutors

Poker tutors and strategy assistors that operate without the use of live data

Specific examples include:

Poker Academy Pro

Turbo Texas Holdem

SitNGo Wizard training quizzes and post-game analysis

Analysis of Personal Hand Histories

Programs that analyze a player’s hand history may be used in conjunction with a players personal hand history. These programs/services may not be used with shared hand history data

Specific examples include:

Poker Tracker

Poker Academy Prospector

Holdem Manager

Poker Office

Modify Presentation of Personal Hand Histories

Programs that access and display the information contained in a player's personal hand history database are allowed.

Specific examples include:

Gametime+

PokerAce HUD

Manual Betting Assistors (Poker Calculators)

Poker calculators that do not access live data, rather, which requires manual input by the player, are allowed. Any instance of a poker calculator (or similar service) that retrieves data from a live game or is provided live game data by another program/service is prohibited.

Examples include:

twodimes.net

Poker Stove

Cardplayer Poker Odds Calculator

Poker Academy Poker Odds Calculator and Hand Evaluator

Prohibited Usage of Software

Programs that are allowed for normal use may not be used in a manner which would constitute prohibited software use.

Messaging

Messaging, chat, email or any other communication software is permitted during play, provided that there is no communication of relevant game data. The use of any form of communication software to pass on data critical to live games is prohibited.

Disclaimer

Merge Gaming reserves the right to change these policies and guidelines at any time and without prior notice. The final interpretation of these rules and judgment in specific cases is solely at the discretion of Merge Gaming.

PLEASE PRINT THIS PAGE AND STORE FOR YOUR FUTURE REFERENCE. IN ADDITION, WE SUGGEST THAT YOU PRINT AND STORE ALL TRANSACTION RECEIPTS AND GAME RULES AS APPLICABLE TO YOUR ACTIVITIES.
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